Nov 30 2020
University at Buffalo consultants first approached Gorilla Netting in early 2019. For over a year, the team at Gorilla Netting worked with consultants and representatives of SUNY, University at Buffalo (UB), to design, engineer, and install a large netted drone enclosure system for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) testing and research.
The result is a massive 24,000-square-foot research facility, dubbed SOAR (Structure for Outdoor Autonomy Research)—The nation's third-largest outdoor, enclosure drone-testing facility.
The netted drone enclosure is 200 feet long by 120 feet wide and 86 feet high, slightly more than half an acre. Gorilla Netting designed and built the netting system using staged steel poles and a little over 79,000-square-feet of 4" knotted nylon netting. SOAR is located on the North Campus of University at Buffalo, adjacent to Crofts Hall.
"The University at Buffalo is committed to addressing society's most challenging issues. By creating a research complex dedicated to exploring the tremendous potential of uncrewed aerial vehicles, UB researchers, students, and our partners will advance cutting-edge solutions that can help global food security challenges, disaster response, and anti-terrorism," says Kemper Lewis, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Because it is enclosed, and thus considered an indoor flight facility, researchers will not be subject to Federal Aviation Administration rules when testing UAVs. Researchers will use the facility to conduct research on:
The facility will also be a resource for undergraduate and graduate students who study robotics and computer vision. Additionally, it will benefit Western New York companies interested in using the complex to test UAV hardware.
"Our plan is to leave the netting up year-round," says Chase Murray, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering. "This will enable us to conduct tests and improve the performance of UAVs in the often-harsh winter weather conditions that we encounter."
"Many private companies and universities across the country have benefited from Netted Drone Enclosure Systems, and other organizations are moving forward with innovative netting systems. Gorilla Netting was pleased to work with the University at Buffalo to provide them with a unique netting system. The finished product is sure to impress anyone who passes by and sees it." says Dolvin Todd, President of Gorilla Netting LLC.
Founded in 2017, Gorilla Netting quickly became a leader in the industry. Gorilla Netting specializes in sports and barrier netting applications such as golf range barrier netting, baseball netting, multi-sports complex netting, drone netting enclosures and cages for technology development testing and training, overhead netting and enclosures combined with security perimeter fences for contraband prevention in correctional facilities, and litter control fences for landfills and waste management facilities to contain debris.
Gorilla Netting LLC and "Built Gorilla Strong." are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Gorilla Netting LLC in the United States and/or other countries.
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